


the replacement

by crickets



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-05
Updated: 2011-10-05
Packaged: 2017-10-24 08:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crickets/pseuds/crickets





	the replacement

Jeremy goes with her because she looks just like Elena.

 _It certainly isn't because he trusts her._

When things fall apart, it is said that one seeks out the familiar for comfort. And as much as Katherine _is not_ and will _never be_ Elena? In that moment, it doesn't seem to matter. She has one hand on her hip and she tosses a backward glance in his direction.

The house is burning, _literally_ burning to the ground, and she says, "Are you coming or what, kid?"

Jeremy imagines Elena standing over him, holding out her hand.

 _He takes it._

-

She's not what he expected.

But this isn't entirely true, because he doesn't _really_ know what his expectations were, or if he ever even had any. He just knows that she is nicer than he _would_ have imagined if he had ever given it any thought.

For all the _you're slowing me downs_ and the _aren't you gone yets_ there is a: _you miss her, don't you?_ or a _when was the last time you ate?_ and sometimes even a _cheer up, it's not that bad, you've still got me_.

If he closes his eyes, he can still imagine that his sister is there, saying these things to him, and suddenly Katherine is not unlike Elena at all. Suddenly they are one and the same.

"Hey, remember all those times I killed you?"

And just like that, the moment's gone.

-

For whatever reasons Jeremy may have ended up here, in the end he stays because he's got no where left to go.

He's pretty sure that Katherine uses this fact to her advantage every chance she gets, but he's come to know this about her. But, in some ways, he knows that Katherine is in the same exact boat he is. And no matter what he might tell himself, he's pretty sure that it's _her_ who decides to stay with _him_ and not the other way around.

-

It's Christmas time and she indulges him in attending a tree-lighting ceremony in the north western town where they've landed themselves. He hands her a blood bag before they leave the hotel. "Fill up," he tells her. "It's Christmas."

"Ho ho ho, to you too, Jeremy," Katherine mutters before tearing open the seal.

But later, after the lighting, Jeremy is startled to find Katherine dragging a child by her arm through the crowded street.

He reaches out to stop her, one hand at her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing, Katherine?"

She sighs, annoyance at the back of her throat, when Jeremy kneels down to look the little girl in the eye. "Did the mean lady hurt you?"

The tiny voice comes out soft and scared. "I can't find my daddy." And with that, the child's face crumples, and she curls into Katherine, hugging her across her middle.

"You see?" she bites, her hands coming to cover the child's ears as she speaks. "I'm not a _complete_ monster, Jeremy."

Jeremy, dumbfounded, watches as Katherine signals to a deputy standing nearby. "It's okay," she says to the girl. "We're going to go talk to that nice policeman, okay?"

The look she shoots him over her shoulder is positively hurt.

-

He fucks her because she looks just like Elena.

And the truth is, Katherine knows it.

They're in what she likes to call a one-cowboy-town and her belly's full of whiskey and not much else when she crawls into his bed, her teeth in full view.

"I'm hungry," she whispers into his ear, sliding into place on top of him and grinning when she finds him hard. A laugh bubbles at the back of her throat and she throws her head back. "Why Mr. Gilbert," she coos. "Did Elena know you had such a hard on for her?"

"Katherine," he breathes, his voice biting her name out as a warning, but Katherine can already hear the sex in his voice.

"Look, I just need some human in me," she says, patting her stomach once, but smirking at the double-meaning that hangs on the air. "And I can make this easy for you," she tells him, pinning his arms over his head, fixing her gaze upon his, her mouth just breaths away. "Of course.... if that's what you really want."

Jeremy moves, turns on her and flips her over easily, because she lets him, fitting their bodies more closely together. "Don't." And then their mouths are crushed together in a kiss.

-

He's moving inside of her, his eyes shut tight, and with every thrust, his sister's name pounds in his skull.

 _Elena. Elena. Elena. Elena._

She turns him over, sinking her teeth into his neck.

When he comes, he doesn't know which name he cries out.

-

Later, after his shower, he ignores the vampire, who sits in a darkened corner of the room, her gaze burning a hole into his back.

"All better?" She teases, and pushes herself out of the chair. She wears his dark gray t-shirt, which falls just to the underside of her ass, and he watches her over his shoulder as she takes sure, slinking, strides in his direction. He closes his eyes and tries to ignore the fact that the curl has fallen out of her hair.

Her hands slide over his shoulders and down the front of his chest.

He grips her wrist and steps out of her grasp.

"No," he tells her. "This can't happen again." And though he means for it to come out forcefully, instead his voice delivers the words in a shaky, unsure manner that sounds as if the fact is up for debate.

Katherine licks her lips, stepping around to face him and putting a hand at his neck, her fingers pressing into his skin. "You sure about that?"

She slinks down the length of his body, her hand connecting with, and removing his towel when her knees hit the carpet.

Jeremy closes his eyes when her mouth, hot and wet, envelopes him. He wants this. And yet he cannot bring himself to look at her. He turns his head toward the ceiling, his mouth falling open in pleasure, a shiver working its way down the length of his spine.

This time, when he comes, he is not thinking of his sister at all.

-

He's pretty sure he's going to hell.

 _They both are._

Katherine tells him she doesn't believe in hell and traces her fingers over the back of his spine.

 _When she sleeps at night, her nightmares say otherwise._

-

It's his birthday, and Katherine catches him staring at a photograph of himself and Elena.

They're in the backyard, on one of the days before their parents died. The sun is shining down upon them, and Elena is laughing at something off-camera while Jeremy gives her bunny ears.

"What?" he asks, tucking the snapshot back into his wallet and folding it closed.

"Nothing," Katherine lies, her voice betraying a hint of jealousy. "Just wondering if you had any birthday wishes."

Jeremy reaches for her, his fingers tangling in her mess of curls and angling her mouth so that it connects with his.

" _Just one._ "

 _-fin_   



End file.
